Hydrovane-boat.



H. 0. RICHARDSON.

HYDROVANB BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1911.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

INYENTOR WITNESSES I TTOHIIEY.

HOLDEN C. RICHARDSON, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HYDROVANE-IBOAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 1, 1911.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914. Serial No. 611,664.

tice of same,.as used in aeroplanes of various types, and applicable tothe practice incontrol, and investigation of any present or proposedtype of aeroplane. It being practicable to duplicate on a reduced scale,due to increased .unit pressures in thewater, the main features of thedisposition of areas, the warping of supporting surfaces, the use ofailerons, vertical and horizontal rudders,

and other recognized stabilizing devices, em-' bracing the types ofcontrol embodied in the Wright, Farman, Curtis, Bleriot, Antoinette andother types. My device is adapted to secure a degree of safety in theseinvestiga tions or such instruction far superior to that existing withactual full sized aeroplanes. While restricted in amplitude, everyfeature of actual aerialflight may be simulated, including fore and aftand lateral stability, and control of course or change of same, togetherwith the control of the prime-mover, thus al lowing the novice tobecomefamiliar with all features of control necessary to the actualcontrol of an aeroplane in moderate weather.

As a speed boat, the reduction of supporting areas and the increase ofengine power allow of unusual speed possibilities.

Referring to the drawings, illustrating for example suitable means forrealizing my invention-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hydro-vaneboat. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is a detail in elevation on an lenlarged scale of the controllingmeans. Fig. 5 is a detail in elevation on an enlarged scale of thewarping means. Fig. 6 is a detail in elevation of the steering means.

' Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The hull or boat 11 is rovide'd with the superimposed vanes 12 an 13,providing the vertical rudder 15. The aerial propellers are indicated at16*and 17. Submerged promain supporting surface and the divided.

peller or propellers may be added or substituted if desired, but are notshown in the drawings as they may be of any of the well known types. Anysuitable prime-mover may be used as for example, an internal combustionengine. The controlling shaft is indicated at 19, provided with the handwheel 20. The vanes 12 and 13 are rigidly connected with the center linestrut 21. The vane 12 is also rigidly connected with the out-boardstruts 22, While vane or member 13, which is referably flexible, ispivotally connected with the out-board struts 22.

The center line strut is secured to the keel in any suitable way, carebeing taken to give the connecting means between the strut and keeland'vanes, good stream line form so as to reduce to a minimum the waveand eddy making due to the necessary obstruction formed by the strut andconnecting flanges. The strut should be substantially formed to resistfore and aft. and side thrust as well as to carry the load to the vanes.

The out-board struts are shown connectedto a part of the bilge at aboutthe normal water line. These struts being of greater extension than thecenter line strut, are suitably stayed, as indicated at 24, Fig. 5, totake the fore and aft thrusts, the same precaution should be taken as togood stream line section. As above indicated, the outer ends of vane 13are secured to the out board struts 22 b pivotal connections asindicated at 23 to 9.1 low for warping at the tips. The warping levers25 are attached to the outer ends or tips of vane 13, well to theforward side'of the same as clearly shown in Fig. 5. These levers arealso carefully shaped to stream line section. The upperends of levers 25are controlled in a fore and aft sense by guy wires 26 leading to theuniversal control, and are made interacting by suitable crossconnections opposing the y wires. I

The after strut 27, suita ly shaped to good stream line section supportsthe horizontal member or rudder 14 and the vertical rudder 15 togetherwith the rudder post and tiller. The horizontal rudder 14.- is ivotallyconnected with the strut 27 and 1S operated by a suitable bell crank 28and connecting rod 29. The bell crank 28 is actuated by guy wires 30from the universal control.

The tiller is operated by two wires 32 equidistant from the center ofmotion, these wires cross each other and are connected at one end withcross bar 31 connected with the tiller, and at their other ends with thecross bar 33 attached to the shaft 19.

wetted surface at the corresponding speed,

at the same time the water lines become -finer and the wave making isreduced.

The power of the propellers being in excess of that required forintermediate speeds, the hull rapidly emerges with a consequentreduction in skin friction and wave making due tosame, and thefore-and-aft and lateral stability are provided for by the use ofailerons, or by warping vanes and by the horizontal rudder. Thus bystages the load'is transferred from the displacement of the hull to thesupporting vanes, the latter being suitably located with reference tothe center of gravity of the whole, so that the stability is undercontrol. Finally the displacement hull becomes emersed at someintermediate speed, for which the supporting vanes 12,

"13 and 14 and additional superposed vanes if required, (multivanes ormonovane) are designed, thus reducing the wetted surface to that of thevanes and rudders and necessary struts and controls for the same. The

power still being in excess of that required to overcome the wavemaking, eddy-making, skin friction resistance, and the fore-andaft comonent of the normal pressure on the vanes, t e speed may be accelerated,till one or more, orall of the superposedsurfaces emerge, thus reducingthe immersed vanes to those of the requisite area for support at thatspeed, andthus enabling the limit of speed for a that design.

- From' actual experience with a model, I have discovered that, ahorizontal vane of large aspectratio, has high inherent lateralstability due to the operation of the following features, and I.therefore claim to be the inventor of this ty e of vane.

As the vane, inclined to the plane of translation, rises toward thesurface, the fiow of water over the back of same is clean andcontinuous, provided the vane -is well shaped and of good stream-linesect-ion, and this film or stream becomes thinner as the surface isapproached. Up to a certain point the lift is fairly constant, but asthe film over the given power to be reached for back of the vane getsthinner, its supporting value decreases, until the continuity of flowover the back of the vane is broken, when the supporting value is muchdiminished. Thus any tendency, when near the surface, to depress one endand elevate the other, leads to an increase in the supporting power ofthe lowering end, and a decided decrease of the supporting power of therising end, and particularly when emersion of that end takes place itssupporting value is practically nothing (if we ignore the air pressure).This results in a rapid shift of the center of pressure laterally, whichtends to preserve equilibrium.

The use of horizontal vanes, instead of vanes at a dihedral angleprevents the formation of any but a minor system of lateral waves, andthus conserves the energy expended to the useful work of supporting theload and raising the unnecessary wetted surface clear of the water.

The above principles together with the use of warping vanes or ofailerons provides means of retaining stability when turning.

A similar combination of hull and vanes is suitable in connection withaeroplanes and allows of their lighting on or using from the surface ofthe water. For this purpose the presence of large aero-plane surfacesand regular controls, engines and propelle'rs, would allow of themodification of the above design in the followin particulars. The hulldisplacement won (1 require to be adequate to support the aeroplane wellclear of the water, and should have either by means of catamarans orother similar devices, or. inherent in itself, provision for lateral andlidiizontal stability at rest. The hydro-vane supporting surface couldbe much reduced, as the aeroplane surfaces would relieve them of part oftheir functions, and the aeroplane power-plant and controls should beadequate without, duplication in the hydro-vane hull. To turn, forexample, to starboard, the hand wheel 20 is rotated in a clockwisedirection, (looking down on-it) and this puts t e helm to port and tendsto swing the bow to starboard and vice versa. To trim down by the stem,or to increase the angle of attack, that is to lower 14. with respect to13,'the operator, seated abaft the wheel pulls same toward him, thiscauses the forward edge of 1 f to be depressed so that the rudder 14loses supporting power or even derives a down thrust; and vice versa.The lateral stability is controlled by the tip control or Warping tipsof 13. To incline to the right, the wheel is drawn to the right,

this hauls aft, the upper end of the port warping lever 25, and haulsforward the upper end of the starboard lever 25, thus increasing thesupporting power of the port end and decreasing that of the starboardend, with a consequent shift'in a lateral direction (to port of thecenter of pressure, with a consequent tendency to heel to the right andvice versa. Either of these controls can be obtained independently bymoving the control in the corresponding way thus, rotate wheel to steer:move forward or aft for change of trim move laterally for change ofkeel. By any combination of the above motions a combination of thecorresponding controls will result. It will be noted, that by moving thewheel to any position the tendency of the controls is such as to causethe hydro-vane to proceed to assume the attitude of the wheel; forexample if the front edge of the wheel is made to rise the tendency isto make the bow rise. if a lateral edge is made to rise, that side ofthe hydro-vane tends to rise, or it the wheel is turned to starboard theboattends to turn to starboard. As a complete example, suppose the wheelis pulled aft,

and to port and turned to starboard, the following effects would hefelt, there would be a tendency to raise the bow and the starboard sideand to turn to starboard. (This is only an example of a combination, forit would undoubtedly result ina'spill.) The proper corresponding helmwould be to turn the wheel to the left. and the hydro-vane would tend tobank and turn to port.

I have discovered in the courseof my investigation of the problem ofdesign. that for any particular speed there is a particular unitpressure which is most suitable for that particular speed and which willresult in the greatest efliciency, and this particular unit pressure,occurs at a certain definite angle for the speed in question, andfurther, for high spe'eds the angle is fairly uniform over aconsiderable range of speed. (15-60 knots per hour.)

Concentration of the load practically entirely on the forward vane(using a portion only on 14 to assure a normal positive angle) and 14being adjustable in attitude prevents interference of thewave systemsset up by 13 and 14, which might otherwise occur at certain speeds dueto the fixed foreand-aft distance between them and the varying wavelengths corresponding to varying speeds.

What I claim is 1. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination of supportingvanes, vane-warping levers, a horizontal rudder, a vertical rudder, saidrudders being independently operative from a common source of control,and a manually operated universal control comprising a pivoted memberoperatively connected with the warping levers and with the horizontaland vertical rudders.

2. In a hydro-vane boat having suitable means of propulsion, thecombination with the hull, of a normally submerged supporting vane andmeans for warping said vane to control the supporting effect of thewater thereon.

3. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination with the hull, of normallysubmerged and cmcrsible horizontally disposed inclined hydro-vanesarranged one above another, and vane tip moving means for simultaneouslywarping oppositely disposed vane tips.

l. In a hydro-vane boat having suitable means of propulsion, thecombination with the hull, of a single main supporting group offorwardly disposed hydro vanes arranged one above another, and means forsimultaneously moving the opposite ends of a superimposed normallysubmerged vane in opposite directions to control the supporting effectof the water upon the vane upon the movement of the vane-ends in closeproximity to or away from the surface of the water.

5. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination with the hull, of a submergedsupporting vane, vertical and horizontal rudders, means for moving thesame, means for moving the vane tips to vary the supporting powerafforded the vane by the water at opposite sides of the hull, and acontrolling member connected with the rudder and vane tip moving meansand adapted to effect the movement of the boat in the direction in whichthe controlling member is moved by the operator..

6. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination of a normally submergedhydro-vane, warping means therefor, a rudder and means connected withthe vane warping means for actuating the rudder. i

7. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination of a normally submergedhydro-vane, warping means therefor, a horizontal rudder, a verticalrudder, and a universal control for effecting simultaneously orindependently the warping of the hydro-vane and the actuation of therudders.

8. In a hydro-vane-boat, the combination of a strut, a hydro-vanemovably connected therewith and having movable tips, said tips beingmovable simultaneously in opposite directions, a controlling shaft andconnecting means between said shaft and the tips for moving said tips. I

9. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination of a flexible hydro-vane, a pivotally mounted member, a common controlling shaft warping. meansbetween the flexible hydrovane and the controlling shaft and c0nnectingmeans between the pivotally mounted member and said shaft.

10. In a hydro-vane boat, the combina tion of a single main supportinggroup of inclined horizontally disposed hydro-vanes rigidly connectedwith the hull, struts between one of said vanes and thehull, said vanehaving flexible tips movably connected &

with the struts, a control, and lever mechanism between the control andthe vane tips.

11. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination of a single main supportinggroup of inclined horizontally disposed hydro-vanes, one of saidhydro-vanes being rigidly connected' with the hull and having apermanent relative relationship therewith from end to end and another ofsaid hydro-vanes.

horizontal, the axes 0 tween-the control and said rearwa'rdly disposedmember and between the control and the rudder.

13. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination with the hull, of parallelsupporting vanes arranged one above another, one of said vanes beingnormally submerged, and means for warping said vane independently ofanother vane.

14. In a hydro-vane boat, the combination with a hull provided withsuitable means of propulsion, of a normally submerged hydro-vane havingrelatively movable tips movable into lanes inclined to the each of saidmovements being located to one side of the longitudinal center of thevane, and controlling means for said ti as to vary simultaneously thesupporting e ect of the water thereon.

HOLDEN C. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

MAE HOFMANN, HOWARD S. OKIE.

